“This is not a number we are proud of,” Gardner said. “Now it’s up to us to start cost-saving measures as of day one of the new budget year. This is not an increase that we like, and we’ll go to work on day one to find savings.”

The commissioners gave final approval to the budget of $5,792,431 during the board’s monthly meeting on Dec. 13 at the commission office.

On the plus side, the 2013 annual budget of $1.2 million for Washington County’s Unorganized Territory was down 2.8 percent from the 2012 budget.

“I’m sorry that the good news from the UT budget cannot be passed on the county budget,” Gardner said.